Boycott BT and EIRCOM now!

mick.fr

You guys are having some much problems with them why don't you just boycott them. They are not the only Internet Service Providers in Ireland.

These companies are providing you a really poor service level, a poor technical support, a so restrictive internet access in term of bandwidth allowance and speed that I have the feeling when I am reading their offers to be in DUBAI !
Especially BT guys come on, this is ENGLISH <

Why you guys still bother ? Seriously ? You like it or what ?

kelle

http://www.eumom.com/ie/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40844
This might help you decide

DemonOfTheFall

Almost everyone can only get Eircom Bitstream products I think you'd find if you did some research. All the wireless ISPs are dire and/or have very little coverage. Almost nowhere can get cable. That leaves DSL, and eircom with their bitstream products (which covers bt/utv/etc) are the standard offering everywhere. The only way a boycott will happen is if everyone feels like having no internet.

mick.fr

Yeah that's right outside Dublin City Center and 10km around you do not really have the choice.
I was in your case before, I feel your pain.

dub45

I know it is sacrilege to say this on boards but it is arguable that as an isp as distinct from their wholesale shenanigans that Eircom are not that bad at all.

Certainly anyone I know who is with them gets very good bb with very few problems and they don't have billing problems.

When you think that Eircom are the biggest isp it is remarkable how few threads there are on here with real complaints about Eircom as an isp. (allowing for the fact that there seems to be an issue ongoing at the moment with the availability of sites for some people)

DonkeyStyle \o/

I've come to believe that every ISP in Ireland is crap in its own way.

Do you want a customer support line you can actually get through to?
Want your bills to arrive on time and be for the correct amount?
Want a stable connection?
Want good speed/price/cap?

One way or the other you're getting shafted... that's been my experience.
Jump ship from one ISP for reason X... get screwed by your new ISP and wish you'd never switched for reason Y.

As much as I dislike BT and Eircom; you can do far worse.

uncle_sam_ie

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

Almost everyone can only get Eircom Bitstream products I think you'd find if you did some research. All the wireless ISPs are dire and/or have very little coverage. Almost nowhere can get cable. That leaves DSL, and eircom with their bitstream products (which covers bt/utv/etc) are the standard offering everywhere. The only way a boycott will happen is if everyone feels like having no internet.

Or, leave Ireland altogether.

tuxy

dub45 wrote:

Certainly anyone I know who is with them gets very good bb with very few problems and they don't have billing problems.

True, as much as I hate their monopoly and high prices I have had maybe 10 days max in the last 4 years where the service has been sub par. (high pings slow downloads or disconnecting a a lot).

zilog_jones

TBH I've had very little trouble with BT. There was the 4 month wait to get connected (it was during their free trial in 2004), and problems with billing at first, but besides that the service has been mostly good. The only real downtime I've ever had have been due to eircom. Latency and download speeds are generally good. I've never had to speak to customer service so dont know how awful they are

watty

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

Almost everyone can only get Eircom Bitstream products I think you'd find if you did some research. All the wireless ISPs are dire and/or have very little coverage. Almost nowhere can get cable. That leaves DSL, and eircom with their bitstream products (which covers bt/utv/etc) are the standard offering everywhere. The only way a boycott will happen is if everyone feels like having no internet.

Only about 50% or less can get DSL. Many lines fail.

Cable is not yet upgraded to give all cable passed houses (450K?) option for DSL, but UPC is upgrading so most of those will in coming 18month probably have that option (guessing on time scale). A Sunday paper suggested some while ago that UPC may have a plan for the 86,000 MMDS users.

Wireless operators vary hugely from terrible (worse than Dialup speed & satellite ping times) to better than DSL speed/performance as many different technologies are used and different companies have different planning metrics. If you look at these maps you will see wireless coverage is huge or will soon be huge:
http://www.comreg.ie/industry/default.asp?STV4=DDD&TV4Exp=y&navid=242&s=4

HSDPA is now rolling out this year on '3', O2 and Vodaphone. The pings are bit high though at typically 90 to 140ms

A 4G mobile wireless network is rolling out later this year with similar or better speeds to "best" that HSPDA can do (which is up to 10 times 3G) but with 40ms pings (typically 1/3rd of 3G/HSDPA pings).

So it's not all gloom. Despite lack of Government help, alternatives are emerging.

eircom do what they do actually not too badly, neither eircom nor BT warrant a boycott. The problem is lack of competition due to unimaginative Government policy, historic infrastructure and perhaps slightly woolly regulation.

I think the idea behind this thread is misplaced and most of the comments mis-informed.

saml1

zilog_jones wrote:

TBH I've had very little trouble with BT. There was the 4 month wait to get connected (it was during their free trial in 2004), and problems with billing at first, but besides that the service has been mostly good. The only real downtime I've ever had have been due to eircom. Latency and download speeds are generally good. I've never had to speak to customer service so dont know how awful they are

i was the same until the clowns in bt had to process a relocation for me. the order went through but some eejit put in a cancellation order also so i'm without broadband for a month now. it took them 3 weeks, one eircom service engineer and a new modem before they realised it wasn't a technical issue. now every department is passing the buck.
ps don't ring the lo call no from a mobile, my phone bill doubled due to the average 1 hour wait time to get through. its like groundhog day when you do and don't expect a followup call even if they promise you they'll get back! funnily i got though to they're sales dept in like 20 seconds...
the service is ok but god help you if you have a problem. i'd cancel but i've heard horror stories about the process and ppl trying to get the stupid 125 quid deposit back. i've been a good customer and am being treated like crap

LFC5Times

For all these Internet packages that advertise and which you sign up to offering 1/2/3mb speed etc, and they are completely underperforming,is it not a breach of contract by these ISP ?

It seems to me it is but maybe it says something in the terms and conditions i dont know.

dub45

LFC5Times wrote:

For all these Internet packages that advertise and which you sign up to offering 1/2/3mb speed etc, and they are completely underperforming,is it not a breach of contract by these ISP ?

It seems to me it is but maybe it says something in the terms and conditions i dont know.

If you read the ads most of the isps correctly say 'up to' whatever the speed is and cover themselves that way. But often they don't - particularly on their web sites for instance as far as I can see NTL do not qualify the speeds offered in any way and don't mention contention when detailing their products on the site. For example:

ntl Broadband Value is an ideal solution for lighter users and those who are bored with modem dial-up services and wish to have broadband internet access at a great price without time restrictions.

ntl Broadband Value:

* 1Mb downstream; 100k upstream
* 24 hour online connection - no time restrictions
* No telephone line required
* 2Gb usage limit
* Up to 5 email addresses

You can be getting very slow speeds on bb without the product being in breach of 'truthful' advertising which should mention contention rates, distance from the exchange etc etc.

Liam Byrne

LFC5Times wrote:

For all these Internet packages that advertise and which you sign up to offering 1/2/3mb speed etc, and they are completely underperforming,is it not a breach of contract by these ISP ?

It seems to me it is but maybe it says something in the terms and conditions i dont know.

If you have contention, you're going to be sharing.

In addition, even the most truthful ISPs (e.g. my personal experience with Smart Telecom) can only offer "up to" because the physical line to your house may not be capable of handling everything that they offer - e.g. after the eircom debacle last year, Smart offered a free +3mb upgrade to everyone, and they've now permanently upped their "basic" package to 4mb; I still can't get that, as the line maxes out at 2.7mb, but that's OK by me because it's a constant speed and I know it isn't their fault.

If it varies significantly, or has too high a contention, then it's like a rack in a shop that says "from 9.99".....and it's up to you to decide that they're taking the piss and look for an alternative provider who at least tries to offer you what they're promising in their flashy advertising.

But no, they're not doing anything illegal. IMHO they're (ab)using the reasonable issues that do exist as an excuse not to ensure that you get what you pay for, while at the same time raising your expectations by carefully-worded ads that are, when you read the small print, 100% true.